India is deploying digital monitoring platforms and a multi-phase rehabilitation programme to address mounting safety risks across its network of 6,628 specified large dams, the government said on Friday, 15 May. The Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP), statutory oversight under the Dam Safety Act, 2021, and digital tools such as DHARMA are enabling real-time monitoring, structured inspection, and data-driven safety management across operational reservoirs.

Scale of India's Dam Infrastructure

India ranks third worldwide in the number of large dams, with 6,545 currently operational and 83 under construction. Together, these structures hold a combined gross water storage capacity of approximately 330 billion cubic metres — a resource critical to agriculture, drinking water supply, and hydropower generation.

The sheer scale, however, comes with a mounting age problem. About 26 per cent — or 1,681 dams — are more than 50 years old, including 291 that have crossed the 100-year mark. A further 42 per cent of dams fall within the 25–50 year age bracket, meaning the bulk of India's dam stock is approaching or has already entered the critical maintenance window.

The Ageing and Storage Loss Challenge

An analysis of 439 reservoirs, based on Central Water Commission (CWC) data, found an average loss of 19 per cent of gross storage capacity, with an average reservoir age of 42 years. Sedimentation, shifting hydrological patterns, and increasing climate variability are compounding the structural wear that comes with age.

Notably, India's oldest functioning dam — the Kallanai (Grand Anicut) in Tamil Nadu — has remained operational for nearly 2,000 years, a testament to traditional engineering and sustained maintenance. However, officials acknowledge that the broader inventory cannot rely on legacy resilience alone.

What DRIP and the Dam Safety Act Provide

The DRIP is being implemented in phases, targeting improvements in both dam safety and operational performance. It focuses on structural rehabilitation, instrumentation upgrades, and capacity building for dam operators across participating states.

The Dam Safety Act, 2021 provides a statutory framework for the surveillance, inspection, operation, and maintenance of specified dams, with explicit provisions for preventing dam-failure-related disasters. It also establishes an institutional mechanism to ensure safe functioning and addresses connected regulatory matters.

The digital platform DHARMA adds a technology layer, enabling continuous real-time data collection and remote monitoring — a shift from periodic manual inspection toward predictive safety management.

A Strategic Shift in Water Infrastructure Policy

According to the official statement, India is consciously pivoting from dam expansion to safety, resilience, and lifecycle management. This reorientation reflects both the ageing profile of existing infrastructure and the intensifying pressure from climate change on hydrological systems.

With a significant share of the dam stock already past its design-life midpoint, officials and water sector experts argue that the cost of rehabilitation is substantially lower than the human and economic toll of a dam failure. How quickly DRIP phases are executed and whether DHARMA adoption scales across all states will determine the pace of this transition.